Chapter 397

“My Lord, don’t tell me you don’t think so! I certainly don’t believe it.”

How could his own Lord, so brilliant and wise, fail to see through these superficial appearances?

“Haha!”

Upon hearing this, Su Xuan could not help but laugh aloud: “I was just joking! Yes! Power is truly terrifying; it can corrupt the human heart at any moment!”

“Even I, having grasped the power I currently hold, am unwilling to let go. I even find myself wanting more, seeking even greater authority—let alone those people below me!”

“Benefits and power move the human heart indeed!”

“In that case, as for the high-ranking members of these Taking Jiaozhou barbarian tribes, just clear out anyone who is problematic!”

“Even if we don’t kill them, we cannot allow them to remain in their original tribes or even in the local area!”

“Just send them all to the engineering teams or the mining districts!”

“I believe the reformative life there will do a good job of reforming their black hearts!”

Regarding these people, Su Xuan was not soft-hearted in the slightest!

If he didn’t clear these people out, how could he thoroughly integrate the barbarians into his rule and make them truly become his own subjects?

Setting aside the indigenous people of Annan for now, at the very least, the ancestors of most barbarians within Taking Jiaozhou should also be the Yellow Emperor, the Flame Emperor, or their primal ancestor Chiyou.

They are all one family.

“No!”

Guo Jia listened, shook his head, and said: “At the very least, my Lord, you are different from those high-ranking officials. Although you hold power and crave even more, you are willing to treat your subjects fairly, providing them with a fair, just, and hopeful environment for survival;”

“This is a reality that even the sages of antiquity might not have been able to achieve!”

“To achieve this, you did not even hesitate to launch the New Policy reforms, offending the many scholar-clans of the world without regret. In my view, your virtue has already surpassed the sages of antiquity!”

“As for those greedy and wicked barbarian tribal leaders, you wouldn’t even need to tell me; I would purge them regardless!”

“As for the good ones, we can absorb them. After they receive a certain level of education and reform, we can let them assist us in governing and transforming the barbarian tribes.”

He was not blindly flattering; he genuinely felt that Su Xuan was truly this great.

Otherwise, with Su Xuan’s ability and means, he could have lived a much more relaxed and comfortable life.

He could even have unified the world long ago.

“Haha! Guo Fengxiao, you overpraise me!”

Su Xuan heard this, and although he felt pleased and happy inside, he modestly waved his hand on the surface: “I am not as great as you say! It’s just that I have seen the light, and my eyes can no longer tolerate much darkness!”

“I always feel that this darkness is an eyesore, and I can’t help but want to wipe it away, that is all!”

“It is not as great as you describe!”

When it came down to it, Su Xuan felt that he was actually just a self-aware angry youth.

“Oh?”

Guo Jia raised his eyebrows slightly upon hearing this, stroked his beard meaningfully, and said: “Seen the light? It seems my Lord has deduced and foreseen the future! And you have seen a very beautiful future! Otherwise, you would not have such sentiments!”

He finally understood a bit why Su Xuan was so keen and firm about the reforms.

Moreover, the rules and regulations of the reform were so perfect; they didn’t look like something cooked up in a moment of heat.

So, the root of it was here!

As expected, my Lord is simply not human!

Foreseeing the future and having insight into the future is not something an ordinary person can do.

“Something like that!”

Su Xuan heard this, was slightly stunned, then nodded with a smile, not offering much explanation.

Guo Jia’s interpretation wasn’t actually too far off.

Although he was a transmigrator who had been reborn, the future in his memory could also be seen as having foreseen the future.

Of course, even that future was not entirely bright; it wasn’t without darkness, and not everything was perfect.

But at least it was much better than this chaotic and decaying era.

Furthermore, he now controlled extraordinary powers, and in the future, he planned to establish a proper Dynasty of Luck.

By then, as long as he didn’t want it to, all darkness would truly never appear within his dynasty again.

Humans have limits, but the Lord of a Dynasty of Luck has no limits, and the Golden Dragon of Luck has no limits either.

By that time, all darkness would be clearly exposed to the eyes of the Golden Dragon of Luck and the Lord of the Dynasty of Luck; even across a distance of tens of thousands of miles, it would not escape Su Xuan’s insight.

This was Su Xuan’s confidence in clearing away all darkness.

As for whether doing so would cause the world to lose its drive to move forward and become dead and stagnant over time?

Not at all.

Because, in the future, Su Xuan also planned to conquer the myriad worlds!

There would be plenty of opportunities left for his subjects.

“That really is the case!”

Guo Jia heard Su Xuan’s answer and couldn’t help but click his tongue: “My Lord is amazing! If only I could have this ability one day, that would be great!”

“Hehe! There will be such a day!”

Su Xuan heard this and smiled.

Once they became like the immortals and deities in myths and legends, they should be able to perceive the past and future.

Over in Taking Jiaozhou.

After Gan Ning and the others discovered the intentions of Shi Xie and his group, they followed the advice of Xu Shu and Lu Su and did not rush to sweep through the enemy forces.

Instead, they restrained their combat power, maintaining a stalemate between the two sides.

They were waiting for the enemy to gather and concentrate all their troops.

“Military Advisor, when can we launch a full-scale attack and completely annihilate them? Continuing to be so timid is just too stifling!”

“I still want to take the entire Taking Jiaozhou territory early!”

“Don’t delay; it would be a pity if General Huang Zhong and the others took all the credit by then!”

Watching the days go by, with Xu Shu and the others still making him maintain the stalemate, Gan Ning couldn’t sit still and couldn’t help but find Xu Shu and Lu Su to ask.

He had already received news from the Secret Guards that Huang Zhong and his men had already led their army out from Guiyang Commandery and raided the Taking Jiaozhou border defenses.

They had easily taken those border defenses and were currently gathering provisions and weaponry, ready to invade Taking Jiaozhou in force at any moment.

“General Gan Ning, please be patient!”

Xu Shu saw this and, with a bit of a headache, pacified him: “We are doing this so that we can take the entire Taking Jiaozhou more easily later and govern it with greater ease;”

“Only by gathering everyone who opposes the Lord and is full of hostility toward him, and then destroying or capturing them, will it become easy for us to implement the New Policy and complete the development and governance of Taking Jiaozhou after we take it!”

“Seeking speed blindly will only scare those who are hostile to us;”

“By then, they will surely hide their hatred and intentions, lurking in the dark like poisonous snakes, tripping us up and obstructing our subsequent governance and reforms;”

“Moreover!”

Speaking of this, Xu Shu paused and continued: “As long as we can lure out and attract everyone who is hostile to us and finish the job in one battle, that credit will far exceed the credit for actually conquering Taking Jiaozhou. Do you understand?”

“You wouldn’t doubt the Lord’s fairness, would you?”

Su Xuan had long since instructed them not to be blinded by short-term results and to have a long-term perspective when looking at things and problems.

This plan of his was a manifestation of that long-term perspective.

The more they made the war appear deadlocked now, the more the enemy would feel that they were weak and that they still had a chance to defeat them.

If they ignored everything and went full-force, charging recklessly without regard,

Then those who were hostile to them were not fools; they would naturally turtle up and prioritize saving their own lives.

The key was that since they already harbored hostility and dissatisfaction toward Su Xuan, it was impossible for them to truly submit to him or be of one heart with him in the future.

They would only become hidden dangers in the dark.

It was better to clear them out all at once.

“Is that so?”

Gan Ning was stunned upon hearing this and couldn’t help but ask: “Mr. Yuanzhi, are you sure this credit is greater than taking the entire Taking Jiaozhou?”

“Certain and sure!”

Xu Shu nodded without hesitation.

“That’s right!”

Lu Su, who was to the side, also spoke with a smile: “General Gan Ning, you can rest assured! Yuanzhi has explained it so clearly; I don’t believe you don’t understand? No need to hesitate; just continue to fight according to our arrangements!”

“If you are truly worried, the General can write to the Lord; I believe the Lord will reply to you immediately!”

“This...”

Gan Ning heard this and immediately waved his hand hesitantly: “Never mind that! It’s not that I don’t truly trust the two gentlemen, it’s just that this concerns the merits of tens of thousands of men under my command, so I have to be cautious! If there is any offense, please forgive me, two gentlemen, and don’t hold it against a rough man like me! Hehe!”